baby pig help!

[magentastardust]

Okay , so have had our 2 little guinea girls since sun night. I think they are settling in fine, they are still pretty quiet but more and more little noises as the days go on.
They do mad runs and popcorn when we put their hay in every day.
I can't get over how much 2 little things munch through though -Kale and cucumber seem to be favourites but they have also been enjoying peppers and tomato.

I just need a bit of guidance on behaviour they are aprox 12 weeks both girls, they seem to get on fine snuggle in together but they do seem to have the odd little niggle at each other-they always go for the same piece of veg even though plenty gets put into the cage. They occasionally give each other a wee nudge / gentle head butt -no teeth and no distressing noises -is this just normal sisterly behaviour?
Also how much should we be handling them now?
We left them to settle the first night and have been gently stroking their heads and ears each day since as we put in food or veg. One of them did take some kale from my hand but they tend to run away when I put my hand it with anything.
Should we start letting them snuggle in a towel on our knees yet or should we still be letting them settle a bit longer?
Thanks for your help-we used to have rabbits years ago but never have had guinea pigs before

Awww cute baby guineas

Yes they do make weird noises - it's part of their charm (I couldn't have a silent animal now after guinea pigs)

12 weeks is a nice age, they aren't 'baby' babies but YY to putting them in a towel to make them feel secure and catch the inevitable bladder escapes.
(My DD got peed on by the 3yo boar. The 7 month old did the Dancy Dancy Stamp Stamp to let me know he wanted a wee )

Sometimes though you just have to bite the bullet and catch them. If you give them a box they might run in, you can block the exits with your hand and securely scoop them under the belly and under the rump.

Mine have always done the runaround thing when we catch them. We try not to harrass them and wind them up, but they need to be caught (sometimes quickly like when they are in their outside run and it starts to pour with rain. )

Food is always the way forward, once you catch them, give them parsley or cucumber to get them to associate cuddles + treats.

I've had baby (newborn) pigs that we handled from birth with the mum present. Our piglet (6 weeks when we got him) was handled by DD from Day One (she couldn't resist him).

Go onto one of the YouTube Guinea Pig noises sites. They explain what they mean and you can hear examples , the have a real repitoire.

And you can't tuck rabbits in your cardigan to see what's nice in the fridge.
Love guinea-pigs

Ours have been handled from the start. They aren't always that enthusiastic about being caught but have never bitten or objected once picked up. They don't like being dangled, so it's a quick swoop straight into a cuddle. Once they realised that parsley or other goodies comes with human contact, they seemed pretty cool with the idea.

I totally agree with 70, I couldn't go back to having silent pets. Wheeeep wheep!